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Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger Opened My Beer With Bare Hands

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Hold on. A non-twist-off beer bottle! He put it between his knees and with a flick of his hand the cap was on the ground.

Oh, let me back up. Wednesday night we were invited to what Chad Kroeger called a “Nickelback thank you”. The band wanted to thank our station for supporting them and their music over the years. Can I just say, in my umpteen years in radio and concert-going, no band has ever invited me to an exclusive station-only “thank you” pre-concert party.

My Operations Manager, Promotions Manager and I were escorted to the secret underground, only seen by crew, hockey players and band members section of Consol Energy Center, passing through layer after layer of security with every hallway twist and turn. BTW-I could never find that portion of the Arena ever again. We then waited for final clearance from a high-up-there Nickelback manager, all the while flashing our super special back stage passes.

After we got the all clear signal, we were allowed to enter the Nickelback “lounge” complete with couches, curtains, snacks, a beer stocked fridge and an awesome sound system (a Tom Petty song played while we filed in). It didn’t take long before our “promo John” started passing out the beer.

Half way through my first Corona the members of Nickelback walked in one by one and introduced themselves. I did my best to pretend I was supposed to be there. And last but not least, in walked lead singer and lead “back” Chad Kroeger. After the shaking of hands he quickly took inventory of our beers and decided I needed another one. Who am I to say no to Mr. Kroeger, even though I still had a swig or two left in the current bottle.

That’s when the magic act began. I mean it’s one thing to be served a beer by a rock star, but to have him open it with his bare hands is another. Let me remind you, this is not a twist off cap, nor did he make a twisting motion. Chad Kroeger simply put his middle finger on top of the bottle and “pop” went the cap. When we asked him to do it again, he gladly grabbed TWO beers this time and did the trick in slow-motion twice so we could be in on his trick.

But since a magician’s new friend would never reveal the trick, I’ll have to leave the story right here. My hope for you is that one day you’ll find yourself in the company of Nickelback and Chad when he can let you in on the secret personally.

Will I remember the concert that followed our special visit? Sure. But from now on whenever a hear a Nickelback song I will thirst for a beer that only Chad Kroeger could open.